Given that he had only "recently" been recruited to Sefirot, Tachibana Masaru still felt rather nominally out of place compared to everyone else who he seemed to be working with. He was by no means the youngest present, oddly enough, but in many ways he saw himself as the most normal—and, in a way, most fortunate of them all. Would he rather have lived the rest of his life as a streamer, maybe transitioning into variety content once he grew big enough? Quite possibly. But given how much money Sefirot had thrown at him and how insanely persistent they had been up until he had ceded to their offer, that might have never been a possibility after his miraculous victory over that Warped all those months ago.
Unfortunately, Masaru was acutely aware that such what-ifs mattered little in the moment, and that his life now would be one of constant hunts and peacekeeping. In a way, that was too far off from what he had done up until now; killing or capturing virtual monsters could be close enough to that line of work if one squinted hard enough. It didn't help in the least that the desire for self-improvement had more or less led to him talking himself into taking up the job, or at the very least played a meaningful role in the matter.
There was probably some irony to be found in the situation, but regardless of what had led him to this point, he was here now. Thus far, the Agent had not actually found himself deployed onto the field for any incidents, which meant that he spent a majority of his time loitering around base. Though that passed well enough the first few days, it didn't take long for Masaru to familiarize himself with the layout, and soon wandering turned to boredom. He was banned from streaming now, after all—too much of a hazard in multiple ways to do so—and though the hefty compensation they provided made up for the loss in income revenue, the overwhelming ennui over the next week led to him turning back to old habits.
In this case, though, "old habits" didn't mean anything inherently harmful to him, like tobacco or alcohol. No, in this case, it meant a return to what he was comfortable with: virtual hunts in a physical space. The training room was no Monster Slayer DX—though part of him was tempted to ask the staff to set it up—but it did have a bunch of data on some more physically destructive Anomalies that could be turned into simulations to go up against. A good number of them were meant for teams, of course, but the challenge to running into them whether or not anyone else wanted to join him was a good way for him to burn the day away if nobody had any plans for him.
For the moment, that meant slowly sweeping through the list of Avon-class Anomalies and bringing each one down in turn. The challenge seemed feasible enough in his head when he had first considered it, but the size of the roster left Masaru wondering how much time that task would take—doubly so given the number of entries added in by the day.
Hopefully not too long; maybe he'd actually get sent out for something instead of being stuck in combat simulations for the whole day. At least nobody was pushing him to go train, given how much he was "technically" training already.
Given the nature of what had just transpired, it wasn't at all surprising that the baby would continue to cry as the group approached it and its mother. As was natural for children (as one might have presumed), the presence of strangers and lack of response from its mother only seemed to further exacerbate what fears it held. Newly borne into the world as it was, the lack of a familiar voice, the darkness, the smell of blood—it almost seemed as if everything was lining up to make sure that the child would never be at ease down here.
But be it for safety or some other reason, the woman and her child had not only ended up here, safe from the elements and whatever beasts may have lurked above, but also found themselves miraculously found despite the logic of the world dictating that rescue in such a situation would have been almost impossible otherwise. Even so, that still left the problem of transporting the pair home.
With neither child nor parent capable of movement and the rain pounding down from above, it fell to the group to decide whether or not to remain in the darkness until the storm passed or to brave the elements and simply push through back to town in spite of it. The lack of any ability to simply teleport back meant that much would be an issue regardless of choice.
With that said, though, the baby did seem to stop crying for a moment as Lewa drew nearer, for whatever reason. The presence of the others didn't seem to help in calming it down, but at the very least there was something about the Toa that seemed to put it at ease.
With his hands in his pockets and Luna following close behind him, Richard silently followed behind Laurel as the group left Byjerlfal City behind. Given how eventful the last few hours had been, the walk itself was a nice change of pace, but the brief thought that the luxuries of the city would momentarily be out of reach did bother him slightly. Given how he knew what he had signed up for, though, Richard had no room to complain.
When the smell of seawater grew stronger, though, the young man took a brief moment to pause and look around at where they had ended up. A far more "natural" beach swarming with vacationers and their Pokemon stretched out into the distance, and even from where they were now Richard could hear the chatter and cries of... Well, everyone and everything, really. It was far more muted than if he was closer, of course, but the Trainer had no intention of heading out onto the sandy beaches at that point in time.
It was then, though, that Laurel announced her intentions to spend some more time on the route. Hearing that, Richard brought one hand towards his chin and considered his options for a moment. After all, blindly walking ahead (even with his Rotom Phone's map at hand to guide him) meant that Luna would gain no practical experience whatsoever; sticking with Laurel, on the other hand, could possibly stymie both of their chances at gaining proper training independently. There were a few other options to try and handle the situation, but only one really stuck out to him as the "best".
"Mmm... Well, I guess that it'd be remiss of me to not explore, so I'll probably go check out those caves," he replied, waving to Laurel as he walked off towards wherever his phone determined the actual entrance to that system was. "Since you're in the area, I hope you won't mind if I reach out to you in case something goes terribly wrong in there. Hopefully it won't, but it doesn't hurt to be careful, y'know? See you later."
If anything, though, the Pokemon in the caves would hopefully provide Luna with a proper challenge; with any luck, though, it wouldn't just be training that'd be handled there. A new team member to shore up the Snivy's vulnerabilities would be quite useful, but Richard chose to keep his expectations low in hopes that they would be exceeded by some stroke of luck or another.
Though rain had begun seeping through the cracks in the rotting wood, the steps leading deeper into the area beneath were only left somewhat wet. The lack of any guard railing would make travel downwards dangerous, and the lack of any direct light down the stairwell would prove dangerous without any illumination of the party's own. With the team at hand, though, it was unlikely that any meaningful issues would arrive in blindly traversing downwards, least of all the fact that they had ways of making their own light (or avoiding the possibility to stumbling down outright simply by flying).
The walk down the stairs would proceed more or less without issue, provided nobody accidentally slipped on the rain-soaked stone that had been smoothed over by who knew how many years' worth of natural erosion. The bottom of the stairwell would lead to an open room—one that, by the looks of things, had seldom seen any exploration since it was last closed. The sounds of the crying child were rather noticeable now that before, and a brief look around the room would reveal the source without much issue.
Would that the circumstances had been better, though.
Though the air was stagnant and musty, the smell of blood would be difficult to ignore regardless. An unconscious woman, clutching at her wailing child in silence, was leaning against one of the walls to the side. No bloodstains save those now marking the stone brick walls were visible on the walk in—likely due to the cut that had drained her having been shallow enough to only soak into her clothing—but given what the situation seemed to be, it was rather lucky that the group had stumbled upon her when they had. Any bit of light would reveal that the woman matched the brief description that Marcus had provided, but whether it was the Raven Heralds or something else that had injured her was something that remained to be seen.
There was a door further in at the other end of the room—this one built of some sort of metal—but given the situation, further exploration would have to be a consideration for the future—unless, of course, the group as it was thought that whatever was sealed behind it was worth the effort of trying to break through right now.
Psychological Profile: At heart, Masaru is a person driven by his passion and pursuit of mastery in what he enjoys—and, by extension, his desire to share those feelings with others. In the past, this manifested as him streaming and regularly competing in tournaments; now, however, hunting Anomalies and honing his skills beyond the virtual stage seems to have taken its place. To that end, one could argue that he seeks power "for the sake of pursuing it", which could be seen as problematic in its own right, but due to the lack of any actual red flags in his behavior (e.g. megalomania, a desire for revenge, an all-consuming ego) Sefirot seems to be indulging in his pursuits rather than stymieing them—likely due to the fact that the better of a combatant he becomes, the more dangerous stuff they can throw him at. He welcomes the challenge, though. When not training, Masaru is actually rather relaxed, often times opting to spend his days hanging out as anyone around his age might. Whether that takes the form of reading, playing games, or just having a good meal matters not, so long as he is able to enjoy life for what it is rather than what it could have been—a trait no doubt inspired by the incident that brought him to Sefirot to begin with.
Skills: More than anything else, Masaru's preternatural skill with a bow is what shines more than anything else. Coupled with what was essentially years of dedicated training while streaming (including no small amount of climbing, rolling, and dashing around), however, and that skill has since begun to evolve into more of an informal combat style that leverages both mobility and distance control to strike down his targets. Being able to do all of that while entertaining a crowd of viewers has also given him the means to react to and interpret situations on the fly while also providing valuable information (or lighthearted banter) to his partners in action.
Abilities: Beyond higher-than-natural combat aptitude and reflexes, Masaru doesn't have anything that would set him apart from other people. One might argue that his ability to react on the fly and read enemy tells would qualify as an ability, but the man himself insists that those come from practice and refinement rather than natural talent.
Equipment: Masaru's primary weapon is a bow enchanted with the ability to control wind, water, and lightning. Though nameless (as far as he knows), the weapon itself is fairly complicated when it comes to actually manipulating the magic behind all of the elemental manipulation; as such, Masaru (with his limited time with the weapon this far) is only able to make rudimentary use of the latter two elements as of the start of his employment as an Agent. The bow itself also has the standard functionality of a bow (being able to shoot arrows of any sort), but also comes with a quiver of "infinite" arrows to make use of. Beyond that, the gamer-turned-Agent carries a small wakizashi-sized sword that can double as an emergency supercharged arrow should the need arise.
Background:
Before becoming an Agent, Masaru was a video game content creator whose streams and videos focused primarily around "Monster Slayer DX", a game in a long-famous game franchise that leveraged the power of VR, hard light, and reactive spaces to create a fully physical game world that went far beyond simply controlling a virtual avatar within one's mind. Though he started with nothing, Masaru quickly gained a reputation in the community as he slew beast after virtual beast, often times on his own and against increasingly more challenging odds. His victories were applauded, and his defeats were constant reminders that no matter how well he did, one small mistake or overconfident move could easily be his downfall.
So went the young man's life for a good few years, spending much of his time engrossed in this game and sharing in that passion with others who had deemed him worthy of their time. All of that came to an abrupt stop, however, when Masaru found himself in a sudden Anomaly outbreak while walking through the mall one day. While other civilians who were further from the danger zone managed to flee without issue, Masaru found himself rather unluckily caged in with the monster causing the chaos: a canine beast whose body seemed to ripple with muscle. Dodging falling concrete chunks from the floors above was a stroke of luck; less lucky, however, was the sight of an Agent who had been unceremoniously thrown clear across the area and broke their neck on said chunk right next to him. With no clear way to run away, the lone Masaru chose to pick up the deceased Agent's weapon—a bow of sorts, as luck would have it—and chose to die on his own terms rather than simply be torn to shreds without resistance.
Those years of practice, it turned out, had merit to them; his unorthodox style of combat that left him weaving through and around gaps in the Anomaly's perception allowed Masaru to fire shot after shot into the beast's head—though not without cost, as the nerves of having to fight in a life-or-death experience cost him more than a few nasty gashes and more close calls. Once one of the beast's eyes went, though, abusing the way it instinctually lashed out to capitalize on that opening even further felt almost like child's play to him. Eventually, the Anomaly had been felled, and Sefirot Agents—who by this point had expected nothing but corpses, given their reaction upon seeing him stand heavily wounded but victorious—came to retrieve the corpses of the deceased...
And him.
Initial questioning seemed to presume that he, too, was an Anomaly of sorts, but tests and analysis as he recovered proved that he was just a normal human—physically, at least. After being forced to sign an NDA about the facilities where he was kept and the people who he met with, Masaru was free to go home once his injuries had healed over.
But that freedom was more fleeting than not. Over the course of their questioning, Sefirot staff had deemed that Masaru was a valuable asset to them; while many others who had his level of skill and experience might have buckled from the pressure of the situation, he stood fast and even overcame an Anomaly with no experience against such beings to begin with. Simulacra was by no means interchangeable with reality, as they knew all too well, but it was undeniable to them that the young man had both skill and potential, and that an asset like that could ill afford to be wasted.
Thus began the days of Masaru's constant "harassment", as he would put it; almost like clockwork, Sefirot recruiters would call or even visit his home to speak with him, aggressively attempting to appeal to some sense of "duty" within the young man to put his skills to use and join them. But time and time again, Masaru would refuse; to be placed in such a dangerous position and come out on top felt like a sheer coincidence to him, and it was only by pure luck that the beast he had felled assumed a form that he was at least somewhat familiar enough with to take down, after all, and the chance of lightning striking twice like that felt untenable at best.
Eventually, though, Sefirot would take things a step further than that. By this point, Masaru's regular visits to the facility where the specialized setups necessary for him to play had become common knowledge to the staff, and it was during one of those visits where the young man was informed that not only had the entire area been rented out, but that the staff there had been given specific instructions to pull him aside to meet the person who had done so.
Kotobuki Gen. An older man who seemed far more lax than the eternally high-strung recruiters hassling him, Gen had told Masaru that he simply "wanted to chat". Masaru himself had grown tired of the hassle, but Gen simply beckoned him inside one of the fields used for the game and, after closing the door, threw Masaru the bow and quiver he had used to survive within an inch of his life and clapped his hands. Immediately, the room around them warped into a perfect copy of that fateful day in the mall, complete with the same Anomaly staring him down dead on.
"If you wouldn't mind showing me some of your skills..." Gen had suggested before stepping back, leaving Masaru alone to face the beast once more.
This time was different, though. The memories of that day coursed through him: the adrenaline driving him forward, the fear of facing death despite him knowing this was no more than a fake created by technology...
But what was missing this time was the desperation he had tasted back then. This was an enemy he had bested before, and under these circumstances, he could do it again.
No. He could do it better.
With him own pride as a gamer on the line, Masaru struck forth. Confidence in his movement slowly rose as he gauged his enemy out, reacting to every tell and twitch as he loosed arrow after arrow into its head. When the Anomaly simulacrum fell, Gen had expected to speak on the matter more with Masaru. What he didn't expect, though, was what the young man said soon after the field began to fade away.
"Again."
Confused, Gen seemed to stare at Masaru before giving his assent and allowing the field to reform. This time, however, Masaru slipped up; the briefest of missteps had left him wide open, and a wide cleave that would have bisected him had it been real went clear through him. But despite being visibly shaken, the young man continued.
"Again."
For the next two hours, Masaru would throw himself against the fake Anomaly, much to Gen's own intrigue. The older man soon began to notice, however, that each subsequent attempt upon the Anomaly's false life was faster than the last. It was slow at first, but by his final attempt Masaru had managed to shave minutes off of his time. Now thoroughly exhausted, though, the streamer finally deigned it acceptable to stop and speak with the man who had given him the opportunity to face the beast once more.
It soon became clear that no small part of Masaru's attempts had been driven on by some sense of ego, and it was at this point that Gen inquired as to the streamer's motivations in doing what he had just now. The answer, however, was simple.
"It was a good opportunity to practice against something new in a safe place," Masaru had replied. "And besides, you rarely see monsters like that in game. Better to have the experience against it than not."
With his motivations (and apparent reason for declining all those offers) clear for the old man to see, Gen chose to proceed with negotiations. The idea that Masaru could only assure his own safety through improvement of his own skill was quickly taken advantage of with the idea that he could only do so facing against those threats, and the implication that being a Sefirot Agent was the best way of doing so coupled with the fact that there were far more fights than the ones that went public seemed sufficient to convince the young man to sign on...
Once he had a proper lawyer to settle the matter and had enough time to put his streaming career on indefinite hiatus, at least.
Psychological Profile: At heart, Masaru is a person driven by his passion and pursuit of mastery in what he enjoys—and, by extension, his desire to share those feelings with others. In the past, this manifested as him streaming and regularly competing in tournaments; now, however, hunting Anomalies and honing his skills beyond the virtual stage seems to have taken its place. To that end, one could argue that he seeks power "for the sake of pursuing it", which could be seen as problematic in its own right, but due to the lack of any actual red flags in his behavior (e.g. megalomania, a desire for revenge, an all-consuming ego) Sefirot seems to be indulging in his pursuits rather than stymieing them—likely due to the fact that the better of a combatant he becomes, the more dangerous stuff they can throw him at. He welcomes the challenge, though. When not training, Masaru is actually rather relaxed, often times opting to spend his days hanging out as anyone around his age might. Whether that takes the form of reading, playing games, or just having a good meal matters not, so long as he is able to enjoy life for what it is rather than what it could have been—a trait no doubt inspired by the incident that brought him to Sefirot to begin with.
Skills: More than anything else, Masaru's preternatural skill with a bow is what shines more than anything else. Coupled with what was essentially years of dedicated training while streaming (including no small amount of climbing, rolling, and dashing around), however, and that skill has since begun to evolve into more of an informal combat style that leverages both mobility and distance control to strike down his targets. Being able to do all of that while entertaining a crowd of viewers has also given him the means to react to and interpret situations on the fly while also providing valuable information (or lighthearted banter) to his partners in action.
Abilities: Beyond higher-than-natural combat aptitude and reflexes, Masaru doesn't have anything that would set him apart from other people. One might argue that his ability to react on the fly and read enemy tells would qualify as an ability, but the man himself insists that those come from practice and refinement rather than natural talent.
Equipment: Masaru's primary weapon is a bow enchanted with the ability to control wind, water, and lightning. Though nameless (as far as he knows), the weapon itself is fairly complicated when it comes to actually manipulating the magic behind all of the elemental manipulation; as such, Masaru (with his limited time with the weapon this far) is only able to make rudimentary use of the latter two elements as of the start of his employment as an Agent. The bow itself also has the standard functionality of a bow (being able to shoot arrows of any sort), but also comes with a quiver of "infinite" arrows to make use of. Beyond that, the gamer-turned-Agent carries a small wakizashi-sized sword that can double as an emergency supercharged arrow should the need arise.
Background:
Before becoming an Agent, Masaru was a video game content creator whose streams and videos focused primarily around "Monster Slayer DX", a game in a long-famous game franchise that leveraged the power of VR, hard light, and reactive spaces to create a fully physical game world that went far beyond simply controlling a virtual avatar within one's mind. Though he started with nothing, Masaru quickly gained a reputation in the community as he slew beast after virtual beast, often times on his own and against increasingly more challenging odds. His victories were applauded, and his defeats were constant reminders that no matter how well he did, one small mistake or overconfident move could easily be his downfall.
So went the young man's life for a good few years, spending much of his time engrossed in this game and sharing in that passion with others who had deemed him worthy of their time. All of that came to an abrupt stop, however, when Masaru found himself in a sudden Anomaly outbreak while walking through the mall one day. While other civilians who were further from the danger zone managed to flee without issue, Masaru found himself rather unluckily caged in with the monster causing the chaos: a canine beast whose body seemed to ripple with muscle. Dodging falling concrete chunks from the floors above was a stroke of luck; less lucky, however, was the sight of an Agent who had been unceremoniously thrown clear across the area and broke their neck on said chunk right next to him. With no clear way to run away, the lone Masaru chose to pick up the deceased Agent's weapon—a bow of sorts, as luck would have it—and chose to die on his own terms rather than simply be torn to shreds without resistance.
Those years of practice, it turned out, had merit to them; his unorthodox style of combat that left him weaving through and around gaps in the Anomaly's perception allowed Masaru to fire shot after shot into the beast's head—though not without cost, as the nerves of having to fight in a life-or-death experience cost him more than a few nasty gashes and more close calls. Once one of the beast's eyes went, though, abusing the way it instinctually lashed out to capitalize on that opening even further felt almost like child's play to him. Eventually, the Anomaly had been felled, and Sefirot Agents—who by this point had expected nothing but corpses, given their reaction upon seeing him stand heavily wounded but victorious—came to retrieve the corpses of the deceased...
And him.
Initial questioning seemed to presume that he, too, was an Anomaly of sorts, but tests and analysis as he recovered proved that he was just a normal human—physically, at least. After being forced to sign an NDA about the facilities where he was kept and the people who he met with, Masaru was free to go home once his injuries had healed over.
But that freedom was more fleeting than not. Over the course of their questioning, Sefirot staff had deemed that Masaru was a valuable asset to them; while many others who had his level of skill and experience might have buckled from the pressure of the situation, he stood fast and even overcame an Anomaly with no experience against such beings to begin with. Simulacra was by no means interchangeable with reality, as they knew all too well, but it was undeniable to them that the young man had both skill and potential, and that an asset like that could ill afford to be wasted.
Thus began the days of Masaru's constant "harassment", as he would put it; almost like clockwork, Sefirot recruiters would call or even visit his home to speak with him, aggressively attempting to appeal to some sense of "duty" within the young man to put his skills to use and join them. But time and time again, Masaru would refuse; to be placed in such a dangerous position and come out on top felt like a sheer coincidence to him, and it was only by pure luck that the beast he had felled assumed a form that he was at least somewhat familiar enough with to take down, after all, and the chance of lightning striking twice like that felt untenable at best.
Eventually, though, Sefirot would take things a step further than that. By this point, Masaru's regular visits to the facility where the specialized setups necessary for him to play had become common knowledge to the staff, and it was during one of those visits where the young man was informed that not only had the entire area been rented out, but that the staff there had been given specific instructions to pull him aside to meet the person who had done so.
Kotobuki Gen. An older man who seemed far more lax than the eternally high-strung recruiters hassling him, Gen had told Masaru that he simply "wanted to chat". Masaru himself had grown tired of the hassle, but Gen simply beckoned him inside one of the fields used for the game and, after closing the door, threw Masaru the bow and quiver he had used to survive within an inch of his life and clapped his hands. Immediately, the room around them warped into a perfect copy of that fateful day in the mall, complete with the same Anomaly staring him down dead on.
"If you wouldn't mind showing me some of your skills..." Gen had suggested before stepping back, leaving Masaru alone to face the beast once more.
This time was different, though. The memories of that day coursed through him: the adrenaline driving him forward, the fear of facing death despite him knowing this was no more than a fake created by technology...
But what was missing this time was the desperation he had tasted back then. This was an enemy he had bested before, and under these circumstances, he could do it again.
No. He could do it better.
With him own pride as a gamer on the line, Masaru struck forth. Confidence in his movement slowly rose as he gauged his enemy out, reacting to every tell and twitch as he loosed arrow after arrow into its head. When the Anomaly simulacrum fell, Gen had expected to speak on the matter more with Masaru. What he didn't expect, though, was what the young man said soon after the field began to fade away.
"Again."
Confused, Gen seemed to stare at Masaru before giving his assent and allowing the field to reform. This time, however, Masaru slipped up; the briefest of missteps had left him wide open, and a wide cleave that would have bisected him had it been real went clear through him. But despite being visibly shaken, the young man continued.
"Again."
For the next two hours, Masaru would throw himself against the fake Anomaly, much to Gen's own intrigue. The older man soon began to notice, however, that each subsequent attempt upon the Anomaly's false life was faster than the last. It was slow at first, but by his final attempt Masaru had managed to shave minutes off of his time. Now thoroughly exhausted, though, the streamer finally deigned it acceptable to stop and speak with the man who had given him the opportunity to face the beast once more.
It soon became clear that no small part of Masaru's attempts had been driven on by some sense of ego, and it was at this point that Gen inquired as to the streamer's motivations in doing what he had just now. The answer, however, was simple.
"It was a good opportunity to practice against something new in a safe place," Masaru had replied. "And besides, you rarely see monsters like that in game. Better to have the experience against it than not."
With his motivations (and apparent reason for declining all those offers) clear for the old man to see, Gen chose to proceed with negotiations. The idea that Masaru could only assure his own safety through improvement of his own skill was quickly taken advantage of with the idea that he could only do so facing against those threats, and the implication that being a Sefirot Agent was the best way of doing so coupled with the fact that there were far more fights than the ones that went public seemed sufficient to convince the young man to sign on...
Once he had a proper lawyer to settle the matter and had enough time to put his streaming career on indefinite hiatus, at least.
@Izurich: Hm... Okay, yeah, checks out. I thiiiiink I have an excuse for why Remi in particular got the short end of the stick, so we should be good to go. Accepted.
@Vlad Tepes: I believe that if DM is soft-nerfed, Alucard should be fine? I'd say accepted here as well.
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